Storm of Eon (Eon Warriors Book 7)

by Anna Hackett

  She gave a mental snort. Who wanted to look at themselves while they were hot, sweaty and red in the face?

  Sabin stopped in the center of the mat.

  Why did the man have to look so damn good? She held her arms out. “So? Where do we start?”

  “You need to know where to attack a Kantos.” He circled her. “They’re not human. They have different weak points.”

  “Okay.”

  “Most Kantos are covered in a hard carapace. Don’t bother with a hit to the back—” his hand touched her back “—or chest.” He circled around, his fingers brushing her sternum.

  Finley gasped, sensation flowing through her.

  “Kantos’ weak points are their soft spots. Underbelly, joints, eyes.”

  She nodded.

  “If you kick, don’t bother with precision. Just try to kick and connect with your shin. It’s larger. Hit hard, hit fast. And aim for those weaker spots.”

  “Shin, hard and fast, weak spots. Got it.”

  He waved a hand. “Kick me.”

  “What? I can’t.”

  A smile curled his lips. “You can’t hurt me.”

  Challenge fired in Finley’s blood. She rushed forward and kicked, but he blocked her foot with his hand, his reflexes lightning fast.

  His hands stroked her calf, setting off small explosions in her belly before he let her go.

  “Try again. Harder this time.”

  She kicked again and he blocked again, swatting her away.

  “Harder.”

  She growled. She swung her leg back and kicked hard. This time she struck his thigh.

  “Better,” he said.

  Except the blow vibrated almost painfully up her body. The man was made of rock.

  Suddenly, he moved fast, his big arms wrapping around her from behind. He pulled her back against his hard body.

  “Now what are you going to do?” he said in her ear.

  She wriggled, and struggled, but she couldn’t budge him.

  “Remember those soft spots.”

  With a hard jerk, she got one hand free. She reached up, trying to hit his eyes.

  “Good. You’ll always be weaker. You need to use your best weapon, your brain.”

  Hmm. She half spun, and pressed her face to his shoulder. His purple-black gaze met hers. Finley bit her lip and his gaze dropped to her mouth, the purple strands in his eyes glowing.

  “Finley.” His voice was husky.

  Using the moment of distraction, she elbowed him in his gut. It wasn’t exactly a soft spot. Still, he grunted, and his hold loosened a little. She kicked his shin and he cursed.

  She broke free and grinned. “I did it!”

  He came at her in a rush. She gasped and took several steps backward. Then she tripped and fell on her back. A second later, his big body was on hers, caging her to the floor.

  Heat washed over Finley.

  “Now what?” he murmured.

  “Now you kiss me,” she said.

  He made a tortured sound. “Finley—”

  “You’re driving me crazy.” She cupped his rugged face with her hands. “Don’t pull away, Sabin. Please.”

  “I can’t do this. Shouldn’t risk losing my control like this.”

  She closed her eyes. “Of course. I’m sorry—”

  His hand closed around the base of her throat and she gasped. The purple filaments in his eyes glowed brightly. “I can’t seem to say no to you. Or stay away.”

  His mouth covered hers.

  Oh, God. Oh, God. His tongue delved into her mouth, and she wrapped her legs around him. She undulated against him and kissed him back.

  Sabin growled and kissed her deeper. Then he broke the kiss, lifting his head. He pressed his forehead to hers.

  “You have no idea how much I want you,” he said.

  His words cut through her belly. No one had ever wanted her like this alien warrior. Then in a lithe move, he rose.

  “Come on. It’s time for bed.” He pulled her up. “Alone. We both need some sleep.”

  “You’re afraid of me. Of this.”

  He touched her jaw. “No, I’m afraid of myself.”

  Chapter Eight

  Sabin strode down the red, dusty track. The Australian sun was hot on his skin. It was more intense than it had been at Space Corps Headquarters. A small lizard darted across his path—it was tiny, and covered in lots of bumpy scales.

  “See that small, rock outcrop ahead?” Kaira pointed.

  He eyed the outcrop. “I see it.” The petite security commander was keeping pace beside him.

  “That’s one of the auto turret placements. We have several of them dotted across the complex. They automatically open when there’s an attack.”

  Good. They’d been here for three days, and he’d been busy assessing the Woomera security, and working with Kaira’s security team. She’d briefed him on all the security procedures of the large complex, and taken all his upgrades on board.

  So far, there’d been no sign of any Kantos assassins.

  But it left Sabin twitchy. He’d prefer to face them head-on.

  Finley had been locked in her lab most of that time. She was working harder than ever, and only ate and slept when he bullied her into it.

  Yesterday, he’d found her asleep on her keyboard. She was pushing herself too hard. He frowned. He didn’t like it.

  “I almost want the Kantos to try and attack.” Kaira’s smile was sharp. “I’d like to take a few down.”

  Sabin detected something in the woman’s voice. “You’ve faced them before?”

  She sucked in a breath. “No. My father is…was a Space Corps engineer. He was aboard a ship that the Kantos destroyed.”

  So much death. “I’m sorry.”

  She lifted her chin. “Thanks. It was almost a year ago.”

  Her eyes glimmered, but she shed no tears. Suddenly, her dark eyes widened.

  Then she rushed at him, arm raised. Sabin tensed. What the cren?

  He was readying to defend himself when she swatted his shoulder.

  “Got it,” she growled.

  “Kaira?”

  “Sorry.” She pulled her hand back.

  He saw the squashed bug on her glove. It looked like it had been a spider.

  “I saw it heading for your neck. Australia has some of Earth’s most poisonous insects. And snakes.”

  He frowned at the spider’s remains. “It’s definitely a native species?”

  Kaira stilled. “You think it might be Kantos?” She stared at the spider. “It looks normal.”

  Maybe Sabin was just seeing Kantos everywhere. He pulled out his communicator and thumbed the screen. A security feed to Finley’s lab filled the screen. He saw her at her desk, tapping madly at her computer, and it made his chest loosen a little.

  He’d upgraded the cameras over the last day and supervised the building of the small safe room in Finley’s lab. He’d drilled her on using it—which she hadn’t been thrilled about. Being locked in a small space was difficult for her. And anything that took her away from her work left her a little testy.

  He smiled. Although, his little garva could be testy most of the time. Well, the StarStorm was important, but he’d make sure she didn’t overwork herself. She was pushing hard so they could do the test.

  “I’d like to schedule some training sessions with your security team,” he said.

  “Consider it done,” Kaira replied.

  He liked Kaira Chand. She was very competent, with no grandstanding.

  “I think you would make an excellent Eon warrior, Kaira.”

  She smiled. “I think I’m a bit short.”

  He returned her smile. “Perhaps slightly. How do you monitor the perimeter?” The Woomera Range Complex covered a huge area.

  “It’s a large area, with rough, desolate terrain. It’s impossible to cover it all by ground. Like I mentioned before, we have sensors in place. We also have a fleet of surveillance drones.”

  Sa
bin nodded.

  “I won’t lie. If a stealthy, alien assassin wanted to sneak in, it would have plenty of opportunity. There’s a lot of native fauna out there and they regularly set off the sensors.”

  He frowned. “Generally, being stealthy isn’t in the Kantos playbook. They prefer overwhelming, direct contact. But these assassins are bred for stealth. We have to be ready.”

  On his communicator, he saw Finley stand. She looked excited, and was talking quickly to the scientists who were assisting her.

  Something was going on.

  A second later, his communicator pinged.

  Finley’s face appeared. “Hi.”

  “Hello,” he replied.

  “We did it! The targeting system looks good in the simulations.” She grinned. “We’re ready for a ground test.”

  “That’s great news.” He glanced at Kaira. “Finley’s ready for a ground test.”

  The security commander nodded. “I’ll coordinate with Dr. Gregson. We should be able to get it set up for today.”

  When Sabin returned to the lab, Finley was bouncing.

  “I feel so good about this,” she said.

  He touched her jaw and she stilled. Her gaze dropped to his lips and he drew in her scent. He wanted to gorge himself on her.

  Thane’s words came back to him. Denying himself was as bad as overindulging.

  Could he really risk touching her? Risk his control?

  “Sabin?”

  He blinked. Later. Right now, they had a test to carry out.

  “Kaira said for you to come to the main observation room.”

  Finley nodded.

  “I am so excited,” Dr. Gemma Neely said, beaming. The young woman had her blonde hair in two tails that made her look even younger. Ian stood behind the woman, eyeing her with a besotted expression.

  Their group headed through a tunnel, and up to the observation room. It was made of solid walls and had a narrow pane of thick glass that gave them a perfect view of the sparse terrain of the test area.

  “The lasers have all been set up,” Dr. Gregson informed them.

  The older woman was standing behind a bank of several computer screens. Some were showing controls for the weapons systems. Others were video feeds of the ground below. Sabin spotted some of the security team out in rugged vehicles near the laser installations.

  “Clear the area and prepare for the test,” Dr. Gregson said into a small microphone.

  Finley was tapping a foot on the floor. Sabin took her hand and she squeezed his fingers.

  “Take a breath,” he said.

  She did. “It’s just that this is so important. I want to get to orbital testing.”

  “Prepare for StarStorm ground test,” Dr. Gregson announced.

  A timer flashed on the screen. Ten. Nine. Eight…

  “There are several laser installations. We get this right, they should form a laser net over the test area.” Finley smiled. “Then I just need to do it for the entire planet.”

  …three. Two. One. Initialize.

  A flash of bright light. Several of the lasers fired and two met. Then three. A dome-shaped net flowed upward.

  “It’s working,” Finley breathed.

  Sabin watched the other lasers fire. The net flowed like water through the air.

  Then the next laser misfired.

  The beam shot wide and cut into a tree, then a boulder. Rock exploded into the sky.

  “Security Team Two, evacuate.” Kaira’s tense voice on the radio.

  “No,” Finley whispered. Her fingers clenched on Sabin’s.

  The lasers all started going wild. On another screen, he saw a security team vehicle racing down a track, a cloud of dust behind it.

  Sabin stiffened. They were too close to the lasers.

  Finley gasped.

  A laser hit the back of the vehicle, cutting through the metal. It skidded to a stop and the doors of the vehicle flew open. Two security officers dove out and ran.

  Finley’s face went white and she pressed a fist to her chest.

  “Roberts?” Kaira barked. “Pascal?”

  “We’re okay, Commander,” one replied.

  Finley slumped. Sabin wrapped an arm around her.

  The rest of the laser net dissolved, as Dr. Gregson shut down the system.

  “Test failure,” the computer intoned.

  Finley closed her eyes and Sabin felt the tension in her body.

  “It’s okay, Finley. This is why we test. Failure helps us get it right.”

  She opened her eyes, and the deep brown looked so empty.

  “We don’t have time for failure.” She pulled away and strode out.

  Finley stormed into her lab.

  The test had failed. She’d almost killed those poor security officers.

  God.

  She smacked the bench with her fist, ignoring the pain that shot up her arm. A tool skittered off and hit the floor.

  The door opened, and Gemma and Ian came in. What if they got hurt, too? Around her, everyone got hurt.

  “Get out,” she said.

  They froze.

  “Now!”

  Both of them spun and the door slammed behind them.

  Great, now she was freaking out innocent lab assistants. Devil Delgado was in the building.

  Well, she needed to get the problem fixed before the Kantos attacked again. She didn’t have time to be nice.

  She dropped into the chair in front of her computer. She brought up the systems screen. There was a bug somewhere, or she’d missed something.

  The door opened again, and she didn’t even bother to look. “I said, get out.”

  “I’m not as easily cowed as your young assistants.”

  She looked back at Sabin.

  He arched a brow. “I don’t think you can force me out, either.” A faint smile. “I’m bigger than you are.”

  “Sabin, I don’t have time for chitchat. I have to find the problem—”

  He strode toward her, his long legs eating up the space. She tensed.

  “You don’t have to do it alone,” he said.

  “My project, my responsibility.”

  “It’s our project now. We’ll find the problem together, solve it, and re-test.” He rested his hands on her shoulders.

  The warmth of his touch felt so good. “What if it fails again?”

  “Then we keep working until we get it right.”

  She looked up. “And if the Kantos attack again? If more people die?”

  Sabin pulled her out of her chair and tugged her into his body.

  “It isn’t on you. You’re working yourself ragged. If the Kantos attack again, the Kantos are to blame.”

  She looked at his chest. It was easy to say, harder to do.

  “This isn’t just about the Kantos,” he said quietly.

  A lump formed in her throat.

  “It’s about your abduction.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” She could already feel that hot, horrible sensation carving out her insides. She touched her elastic band, fighting the need to use it.

  “Okay, but I just want to say, it wasn’t your fault your colleagues died. That’s on your abductors.”

  “Do you know how it feels to be the lone survivor? To wonder why you lived, and they didn’t?”

  He pulled her close, pressing her face to his chest. He smelled good, felt good. She twisted her hands in his shirt.

  Would it hurt to lean? Just for a minute?

  “You didn’t die, Finley, and you aren’t to blame for your friends’ deaths. The people who took you are.” He paused. “You aren’t alone.”

  She made herself pull back. It would be all-too-easy to get used to leaning on Sabin Solann-Ath. But one day, he’d be gone.

  “Now, I’m going to let your slightly terrified assistants back in,” he said.

  She gave him a dry look.

  Finley went back to her computer. Gemma and Ian returned, casting wary looks her way. Soon the
y relaxed and got back to work. Finley lost herself in her work. She pored over the data, picked at the readings from the failed test.

  “There’s still something off with the targeting,” she said.

  “Here.” Sabin reached over and tapped the screen. “It’s in this part of the code. Somewhere.”

  “You’re right.” She stared at the screen, but was so aware of him. The scent of him. His face and neck were so close to her.

  She turned her head, and her lips brushed his neck.

  He stilled, then turned his head. Their mouths were an inch apart.

  “Finley, you’re driving me crazy,” he murmured.

  She licked her lips and he groaned.

  “I kind of like that,” she murmured back.

  “Behave,” he warned.

  She glanced over at where Gemma and Ian were chatting and working.

  With great difficulty, she refocused. She pulled her notepad and pen over. Sometimes she needed to write things down the old-fashioned way, and stop staring at the screen. Finley scribbled wildly—every little thing she could think to try.

  “Enough.”

  Sabin’s voice made her blink, and she looked up. There was no sign of Gemma or Ian.

  Sabin set the tray down beside her. “Eat.”

  “What time is it?”

  “Late. You missed lunch and dinner. I let Gemma and Ian go to bed.”

  “Right.” She rubbed her eyes. Then she grabbed a bread roll and bit into it.

  Sabin smiled at her.

  She swallowed. “What?”

  “You just rubbed ink on your face.”

  She looked at her hands. Her fingers were covered in black ink. “Oh well, I wasn’t planning on entering any beauty contests.”

  “You’d still win.”

  Her heart did a little jig, and she made herself take another bite of bread. She didn’t taste it.

  “You should get some sleep,” he said.

  “Not yet. I’m close to solving this.” She grabbed his forearm. “Please, Sabin. I’m on the right track, I can feel it.”

  He frowned at her. “Okay. One more hour.”

  “Thank you, Commander Bossy.”

  He ignored the jibe. She ate some fruit off the tray and they kept working. This was it. She was sure the tweaks would work.